Pumpkin Art Card with Topflight Stamps

Hello Blog Land, I am here today for Topflight Stamps with an art card using Leanne Creatief stamps. For links to the stamps & a bit of a tutorial, you can check out the blog post here. 

To paper piece the pumpkin took a bit of time but it was well worth the effort.  This style is a bit different for me but I kinda like it. Have a great day, take time to get inky!

Grungy Tag Play with Infusions

Hello Blogland, Happy U.S. Thanksgiving, yay for Turkey Day!! I have my Thursday blog post on the Topflight Stamps blog. They have an awesome sale going on with 25% off all their stamps.

*** sign made using Rhonna Designs App

I created this funky, grungy tag as I played with Infusions powder. This is a fun product that I will have some tutorials on coming up in the near future.  

You can catch the explanation of what I was up to with all the links here. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving for those celebrating, with good old fashion family time.

Heat Emboss Experiment with Art Cards

Hi Blog Land!! I am here with a fun heat emboss experiment while creating an art card. It is Thursday so time for my Topflight Stamps blog post. I wanted to play with white emboss powder and was questioning what goes first the powder or the paint? 

Art Card Therapy

First off here is my art card. My father is older and has been ill. I have been feeling worried & stressed about it so I thought what better way to help deal with all that, then an art card. This is a photo of me & my dad when we were both much younger. We have had a complex & tumultuous relationship but this photo suits the situation today. 

Next, let's talk about the Carabelle Studio stamp set by Zorrotte. You can find it here. I was actually surprised that I made the whole card with this set. I really like how the hearts ended up being a main component while the other images created the background. 

Time To Experiment

I started by heat embossing the circle stamps with 2 different powders. I used white on the lower & Emerald Creek (EC) Iridescent Shimmer on the top. As I added the layers I wiped off the embossed circles using a paper towel with some water. The paint is Fresco Finish by PaperArtsy and it has a nice chalk finish. I used the layering technique by Seth Apter. I have been playing with this lately & it is a great way to make backgrounds. You can see me play with this technique in another project as well as Seth's video here. 

I decided the background was too light so I added a layer of Smoked Paprika. You can really see the water droplets on this layer. 

Here is my paper that I used with the technique to pull up the paint- kinda cool. Like how the embossed areas create a pattern -hummmmm. 

Continuing with the experiment I added the triangles on the left with the white emboss. I added the triangles on the right with the EC emboss powder. Let's look more closely.

Experiment Results

Here are the 2 different white embossed images. Quite a difference, but both are valid. The one on the top which was done after the paint dried is crisp and clean. The one on the side which was done before the paint layers were put down, & wiped clean in between, is slightly discolored and looks more embedded in the page. I like the results and can see there are uses for both. I realized the reason the upper image is crisp & white is because acrylic paint dries permanent, therefor there is no color transfer. 

Iridescent Shimmer Powder

Let's try with our other emboss powder by EC .   This was quite a drastic difference. It was my first time using this powder but it sets clear with glitter. The one on the right side which was put down before the paint & wiped off in between layers, is slightly discolored. The circles take on the color of the index card which is a cream color. The image on the bottom was embossed after the paint. It takes on the color of the paint and much more of the glitter shows. This is kind of cool looking. I outlined the images with a pen so you could see it better. Again both ways are valid & look totally different. 

Lastly adding background images using the other stamps in the set created interest. I stamped the hearts on blue scrapbook paper & on a sheet from my stash that was covered in shimmery Glimmer Mist. They added a wonderful embellishment to my project. 

That is it for this week. My photo and word chips on the tab were the finishing touches. The sentiment says " every detail of their journey" perfect for this card. That is it for this project. I have to say I really love how it turned out. Thanks for joining me today. I hope you enjoyed my tutorial & you get to try it for yourself.

Let's Make a Coffee Tag!

Hello Stamping fans, I am here with my Thursday Topflight Stamps blog post & today is all about this funky, grungy coffee tag. 

 Tag You're It!

This tag came about quite quickly & just makes me happy! I played with Distress Oxide Ink & embossing powder so how about a tutorial?

1st up the stamps sets I used are by Darkroom Door. One of my favorite sets is called Coffee Time.

2nd set was a less obvious one to use but I love reaching for this set when I want to add some background stamping. It is called Grunge Marks. 

Let's Get Inky

Step 1: Using Distress Oxide simply put 3 colors on your craft mat. Spritz with water & drag your tag through the color, turn the tag in different directions & repeat this just a few times until the tag is almost covered.

Dry that first layer & add some of the left over splats by tapping your tag into wet color picking up a little bit of different color then the base color. For example in the yellow areas tap in brown etc. 

Using the same colors stamp some background images randomly around the tag. Let some of the images hang off sides to create more interest. 

Coffee Is The Cure for Cranky!

Step 2: I used a Gel Press paper from my stash to create my coffee cup. Simply heat emboss your image using emboss ink & a sparkle emboss powder. Cut the image out.

I also used the coffee beans in the same way to act as the steam coming up from the cup. Make sure the background of your tag is dry before embossing or the powder will stick to your background images. 

Time for Assembly.

Step 3: Stamp the quote on a piece of card stock, cut out & distress the edges. Adhere to the cup. 

Add the other images on the tag. I love using these paper dolls & like to create stories from my life for them. I made my cup into a pocket & cut out a tag for a journal spot. Well that is it for today!

I will be entering this tag in the Craft Stamper Magazine challenge.  I hope you get a chance to play today.

Eileen Hull's Mix Media Card Box

Hi there Eileen Hull fans, I am here today with a tutorial showing one of her newest collection pieces from Book Club. The inspiration team have been showing sneak peaks but now we get to show you the tutorial! These dies should be hitting your local scrapbook stores in December~ please remember to support your local stores. I teach in a few and we need them to exist so we can all take the fun classes.

Card Box Fun

I make a lot of art cards & this Card Box is the perfect place to collect them. My intention is to have a lot of these decorated side by side for different projects. Like right now I have been working on the100daysproject making art cards. Now I have somewhere to put the stash I am working on, or for the finished cards, or in progress bits 'n pieces. Here you can find the the directions for putting the box together. You will see pics as I do this tutorial but this will help make it all much clearer. 

 Adding Texture

I started by cutting the box out of mat board. I was feeling Dylusional so I decided to make my project out of Dyan Reaveley products. First up was texture & stenciling using Grit Paste & Crackle Paste. *Hot Tip: if you want a different color to show through the cracks, put the stencil down & add the color before the crackle paste. If you want your cracks to be white just keep going.

Do this stages before moving on to the next area so you don't ruin the design as it dries. Gotta love this texture!

Next Up Color! 

Trying to force myself to use other colors than my favorite blue/green combo. I think I did pretty well! Using yellows, oranges, pinks & reds. I applied Dylusions Acrylic Paints using a dabber & baby wipes with stencils being careful not to rub off my paste. Once the paint was dry I topped the leaves using Dylusion sprays put into in water brushes. You could also just spritz some on your craft mat & use a paint brush.

When making my title for the book plate I used Elementary Gothic in font size 10. This is for my record! If I want to do the next box to match I can refer to this blog post. I printed my title on photo paper but it took me 3x to get the size right & didn't get the "s" in. Oh well that's ok. *Hot Tip- paint the end rectangle of the box too (the rectangle/triangles), opps. I did this after and had to pull paint out again... I use Supertape when making these boxes as it is really strong & holds them together well. I also added some doodling & scribbles. Need to work on this phase of my arting! 

Here is how the title spine looks finished. You can see some more doodles were added with a white gel pen. It really does add quite a lot of pop to this project. 

Here is the back side of my box. As you see more doodle work. Assembly of this card box is really easy which I love. The next time I make these boxes I will do 2 or 3 at the same time. It would probably take almost the same amount of time to make them in multiple! 

Lastly I added an image from Dyan Reaveley's Creative Dyary Dy-cuts & a hand made flower's using Eileen's Heart Petal Flower die & tissue paper sprayed with Dylusions. Thanks so much for joining me today. Make sure you head over to Eileen's blog to see what else the Inspiration Team has for you. Don't forget, make time to get inky!

Finding Inspiration to Art Journal

Hello Inky Friends, today I am writing about where to find inspiration for your art journal. As it is Thursday, you know it is my turn on Topflight Stamps! Sometimes the mood or time to be creative strikes, but inspiration to break out that blank page is no where to be found. The simple solution for me, is to get an idea from a challenge site. Even if you don't feel you can participate for whatever reason it helps to narrow the focus and is a good jump off point.

 

I decided to play in my My Favorite Book again this week, just art some stress away! I am loving how chunky this book it getting! I'll show you later in the post. 

I chose the Mix Media Monthly Challenge site to inspire my page. Their challenge #42 this month is Silhouette. I used the Seth Apter die Sunburst to create my silhouette image. 

I thought my journal page would look great with these Crafty Individuals stamp sets. I used this stamp called Floral Postcard.

 I wanted to make a secret journal spot so I also added this stamp Tall Wild Flowers. 

 

I used water color to color my stamped images. On the Tall Wild Flower panel I adhered notebook paper to the backside for my journal spot. 

I don't have a full tutorial this week but I will show you how I made this cute hidden journal spot. Really simple but it allowed me to make my page interactive. Once the water color was dry on the Floral postcard image it was adhered to my page.

Using a couple of strips of washi tape to create a flap was a simple way to add more interest & that secret spot. 

I added a cute resin bee as sort of a tab. You can check out how I made my bee here. 

 

I am loving how chunky this book it getting!!! Can't wait to get it finished and make a cool cover. Well that is it for this Thursday. I hope you had fun & get a chance to get inky!

Making a Resin Bumble Bee

Welcome to a quick tip on how to make a resin bumble bee. Usually when I play with resin I almost always have left over. Rather then waste it pouring into an available mold always is the better option. That leaves me with a container of finished resin pieces so when a quick embellishment is needed they are ready for the picking. 

I will have an upcoming post on how to pour resin into molds. Please read the resin directions included in the box. Not all resins are mixed the same way & that will help avoid mistakes.

Simply paint your piece using black gesso. This is better for resin then acrylic paint as it has more tooth & is designed to adhere to your substrate. Let it dry naturally. I don't use a heat gun when working with my cured resin pieces. 

Last step was to color my cutie using a combination of metallic paint & wax. I used Finnabair Art Alchemy products by Prima. Simply paint the bee & when it is dry add some wax to give it extra shimmer. That is it super simple embellishment. 

I adhered him to the edge of a stamped flip card in My Favorite Book to use as a tab. Check back tomorrow to see the full page. You can see the tutorial of the project where he landed here. Thanks for joining me for this quick tutorial & I hope you get the chance to play with left over resin soon!!!

Supplies:

Resin by Resin Obsession

Mold by Plaid

Metallic paint & was by Prima.